BP clarifies reports about Macondo

HOUSTON – BP says that online reports claiming the Macondo well is leaking and the company responded with boats and boom are false.

The well was capped on July 15, 2010, when all oil flow was stopped, and cemented and sealed on Sept. 19, 2010. The well is monitored.

Last week, the US Coast Guard asked operators with assets in the area of Green Canyon block 504 to investigate a sheen that had been sighted. The company says the sheen was not from any BP source.

On Aug. 16, BP reported a produced water sheen in the vicinity of the Thunder Horse platform to the National Response Center. The company says the volume was small, and came from the platform’s produced water processing. Thunder Horse operations were unaffected, and adjustments have been made to the produced water systems.

Neither of the events was near the Macondo well, Mississippi Canyon Block 252. Thunder Horse is about 40 mi (64 km) south of the Macondo well and the Green Canyon block is about 180 mi (290 km) southwest.